Everything Pascal Siakam

[golden]

He makes some good points.

I don't love that Pascal sounds like he's saying he needs to given the keys, if you're the best player you take them. Maybe it's one of those things that came off wrong in front of the microphone. Either way, Raps are fully committed to Pascal being the man by surrounding him with guys that can ease his burden on defense a bit. That should help him with his responsibilities on offense. Looking forward to a big year from Spicy P.

Oh, for sure, Doug is right on the money about Pascal making an lame excuse, blaming Masai/Nurse for not officially telling him he's 'The Man'. The reality is that Pascal doesn't have a tight enough handle or reliable jumpshot or 3-ball to be The Man. So yeah, that's just Pascal makin an excuse to protect his ego until his actual skills (hopefully) catch up. Athletes sometimes have to play mind-games on themselves like that to keep their self-confidence high.

But, what I found odd was that Doug rarely, if ever, calls out players and coaches. Not sure what Pascal did to deserve this special treatment. Maybe it's the fact that he gave an in-depth interviews to the New York Times and also to Bob McCown, completely bypassing the local beat writers? I dunno.

[The Great One]

What a lame excuse. Pascal still took all the big shots in the clutch(he missed most of them). As for who the man is. EVERYONE knew Kyle was the man after Kawhi left. Now? I have some bad news for Pascal, I know Kyle is gone but Scottie Barnes is now the man. He's the new face of the franchise.

[planetmars]

Yeah Pascal came across a bit immature in that explanation. I think it had more to do with Kyle being the GROAT and actually being the man, and being able to do things that he couldn't even though he was a max player. And it didn't mean taking the last shot. More like being able to skip practices, or skip out on media obligations, or many of the other things we peons don't really know about that happens off camera.

Or at least that's what I think it was about.

[A.I]

Perhaps it was something Pascal fought with internally. Kyle is a legend here, the greatest Raptor of all time, the fan base loves him. I assume Pascal didn't feel like "The man" because of that. Pascal really only became one of the top players of the team the last two seasons.

We knew after Kawhi left, Kyle was getting older that Pascal was going to be that guy, he is still working on it, but with Kyle gone, the next chapter of the Raptors is beginning, starting with Pascal and Fred being the two main guys and eventually Barnes becoming the franchise guy.

[golden]

Yeah Pascal came across a bit immature in that explanation. I think it had more to do with Kyle being the GROAT and actually being the man, and being able to do things that he couldn't even though he was a max player. And it didn't mean taking the last shot. More like being able to skip practices, or skip out on media obligations, or many of the other things we peons don't really know about that happens off camera.

Or at least that's what I think it was about.

Nah, I think it's 100% on-court issues. Like when Kyle and Fred would play keep away and freeze out Pascal, even when he was rolling. You could feel the difference in chemistry when it was Kyle/Fred/Pascal vs. Fred/Pascal. It's hard to keep 3 guys in scoring rhythm and get them their touches. I pointed this out umpteen times in game threads, and Pascal is publicly acknowledging it.

Still, it's an excuse and basically what Pascal is saying is that Lowry didn't respect his game enough to hand over the keys (i.e. the ball) to him as much as he did with FVV. Take that as a challenge to improve your game.... don't blame "management" for not sending out a company-wide email to your teammates. It doesn't matter if you got paid the max..... a guy like Lowry cares more about what you can do on the court.

[planetmars]

Nah, I think it's 100% on-court issues. Like when Kyle and Fred would play keep away and freeze out Pascal, even when he was rolling. You could feel the difference in chemistry when it was Kyle/Fred/Pascal vs. Fred/Pascal. It's hard to keep 3 guys in scoring rhythm and get them their touches. I pointed this out umpteen times in game threads, and Pascal is publicly acknowledging it.

Still, it's an excuse and basically what Pascal is saying is that Lowry didn't respect his game enough to hand over the keys (i.e. the ball) to him as much as he did with FVV. Take that as a challenge to improve your game.... don't blame "management" for not sending out a company-wide email to your teammates. It doesn't matter if you got paid the max..... a guy like Lowry cares more about what you can do on the court.

Yeah maybe.. could be why he had an altercation with Nurse as well. Pascal did better without Kyle (ie, won more games). So hope that trend continues into next season now that his anchor is playing for Miami.

[The Great One]

Lowry-Siakam-Barnes reminds me of Bosh-Bargnani-DeRozan. Bosh obv was the man when he was here. When he left, Bargnani became the Raps go to guy, he took most of the shots. But the guy that everyone was excited about really was the kid from Compton.

Siakam is going to take most of the shots next season but the guy that everyone really want to watch, i'm pretty sure is Scottie Barnes.

[Primer]

Lowry-Siakam-Barnes reminds me of Bosh-Bargnani-DeRozan. Bosh obv was the man when he was here. When he left, Bargnani became the Raps go to guy, he took most of the shots. But the guy that everyone was excited about really was the kid from Compton.

Siakam is going to take most of the shots next season but the guy that everyone really want to watch, i'm pretty sure is Scottie Barnes.

Scottie won't be a high volume scorer though which The Man has to be, so I don't think he'll be taking anything away from Pascals game, more likely just getting him easy buckets with his passing. Scottie also is gonna be coming off the bench when Pascal gets back so he won't be The Man this year.

[LJ2]

It could be as simple as Pascal wanting to call the plays, but yeah I hardly think not being acknowledged as the big dog publicly is an excuse for anything much less his happiness with management.

[S.R.]

Come on, this is being spun as drama where there is none. Lowry himself has said one benefit of him leaving is he's getting out of Fred's and Siakam's way and that those guys are ready to step fully into the locker room role Lowry had. I mean they're talking about the exact same thing here, just using different words.

You can't tell me Lowry wasn't still the leader and 1A in that locker room and on that team. How could he not be. Now he's gone and there's space and a role for Siakam and Fred that wasn't there before, not to this degree. We all know this is exactly what's happening as this team transitions to a new era. This is a big nothing burger.

[saints91]

Guys, it was Lowry’s team. Lowry was the leader when they were drafted, and it was his team until he left. When that guy talks, you listen. You can be be part of the leadership, but Lowry is the alpha.

I don’t think Pascal was talking about on the floor stuff as much as being the guy in the locker room. There was always a split between the younger guys and the veterans (not in a bad way, it’s just the locker room dynamic). He mentioned he’s now the oldest guy at the table, and he feels like it’s completely his team now. This is all non-sensical drama.

[saints91]

Doug is butt hurt because he didn’t get the interview. Hence the comment about wait till he’s in front of writer’s that watch him all the time.

[Dvdvideo]

Come on, this is being spun as drama where there is none. Lowry himself has said one benefit of him leaving is he's getting out of Fred's and Siakam's way and that those guys are ready to step fully into the locker room role Lowry had. I mean they're talking about the exact same thing here, just using different words.

You can't tell me Lowry wasn't still the leader and 1A in that locker room and on that team. How could he not be. Now he's gone and there's space and a role for Siakam and Fred that wasn't there before, not to this degree. We all know this is exactly what's happening as this team transitions to a new era. This is a big nothing burger.

Exactly this. I dont want a leader that "takes the keys", I want one who earns them. And that takes time, and was awkward with lowry around.
Besides, realistically, he was handed "the keys" when he signed his contract. This is a perfect reset for siakam, no lowry, new season back home, hopefully healthy, it will be his best chance to show if he's truly elite or a he will end up the second best player on a great team. (Which isn't bad either)

[golden]

Come on, this is being spun as drama where there is none. Lowry himself has said one benefit of him leaving is he's getting out of Fred's and Siakam's way and that those guys are ready to step fully into the locker room role Lowry had. I mean they're talking about the exact same thing here, just using different words.

You can't tell me Lowry wasn't still the leader and 1A in that locker room and on that team. How could he not be. Now he's gone and there's space and a role for Siakam and Fred that wasn't there before, not to this degree. We all know this is exactly what's happening as this team transitions to a new era. This is a big nothing burger.

It WAS a nothing burger, until Pascal went out of his way to bring attention to something nobody was talking about. It’s pretty clear that he had to get that off his chest and again, he went out of his way to connect the max contract to not getting the executive memo to be the man. That’s an immature way to deflect the criticism he’s receiving about his contract and higher expectations that come with it.

[Dvdvideo]

It WAS a nothing burger, until Pascal went out of his way to bring attention to something nobody was talking about. It’s pretty clear that he had to get that off his chest and again, he went out of his way to connect the max contract to not getting the executive memo to be the man. That’s an immature way to deflect the criticism he’s receiving about his contract and higher expectations that come with it.

Or he was actually just be honest about what he went through, your suggestion that he had some sort of secret agenda/or immature need to let him off the hook is pure conjecture.